Oliver Gives In & Other Olicity One-Shots
by kln101
Summary: A building collection of unrelated drabbles & one-shots with Oliver & Felicity- Inspiration(and some spoilers) from Season 3. Some chapters are only wishful thinking, but most could fit in canon with where the characters are in Season 3. Most recent additions: Ch. 6- Felicity tries to plan a birthday event for Oliver. Ch. 7- Re-write to what happened after their first kiss.
1. Oliver Gives In

**Set as alternate conclusion to Season 3 Episode 7, Draw Back Your Bow. After Oliver sees Felicity with Ray and returns to the foundry, he stays instead of running into Roy and leaving. His jealousy drives him to make a move.**

The lights were low in the foundry as Felicity walked down the stairs. She didn't hear anything from below- no training, no police radio, no news broadcasts from the computer. She figured Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow were out doing their part to save the city. She'd had the night out that she'd wanted, but it hadn't gone exactly as she'd hoped. She probably ought to have gone home and changed out of the million dollar dress that she definitely shouldn't have let Ray Palmer give her. There were so many things that she shouldn't do and shouldn't have done. Her mood at the moment was confused and rocky, and Felicity was done with thinking about things, done with weighing consequences and decisions. That was the reason she was at the foundry anyway- she had no problem knowing the right thing to do when it came to the bad guys. When it came to the good ones, she felt clueless.

She made it to her desk and tossed her purse and jacket into her chair. She pulled her hair down from its careful up do and flung the hair band onto the desk. She was running her fingers through her hair when she saw him. She nearly jumped six feet in the air.

"Oliver, seriously, are you trying to give me a heart attack? Is that a training exercise now? I mean, I give you a perfect ten for your brooding and lurking skills, but is that really necessary down here?" She put her hand over her heart and felt it racing.

Oliver took a step out of the shadows. He had been pacing and training and running circles around the foundry since he saw her kissing Ray Palmer. He'd put on his gear, but he knew he was too worked up to go out with a clear head. He hadn't expected her back here tonight. She belonged up there in the high rise, being kissed by the good guy and dripping in diamonds. She should have stayed there. Why come back down here? He wasn't braced to see her so soon, and it was that moment when his control slipped away. He stopped thinking about shoulds and shouldn'ts. His only thought was that she was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. He took another step toward her, and then another, almost unaware he was moving.

Felicity realized immediately that something was different. He was in full Arrow gear, but he obviously hadn't been headed out. Oliver moved toward her in the dim light, and he was acting strange.

"Oliver, what's wrong? Is everything okay? Did something happen?" Before she could get an answer to her question, she found herself pressed up against the nearby glass case, and Oliver was hovering over her. She couldn't even remember him moving from across the room. Oliver leaned over her with just his lips pressed against her hair. His hands were on the glass beside her, caging her in. She gasped, "Oh my god, what—"

"How could you let him touch you like that? How can he be the last person to…" His voice was so low and gravelly that if he hadn't been speaking right into her ear she wouldn't have been able to hear him. He brushed his gloved finger over her lower lip, and she felt the contact down to her toes.

"Him? Who? What are…" With Oliver surrounding her with his heat, Felicity couldn't think at all, let alone try to figure him out. She brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders.

"Ray. You let him kiss you, and this dress? How could you? First Barry, now this? How am I supposed to just ignore it?" With that, he put his hand back on the glass and leaned his body the rest of the way in. She felt him all over. His lips left her hair and traveled down the side of her throat, burning kisses like a brand.

Felicity was overwhelmed, but not enough to let that comment slide. She sucked in air and put her hand between them on his chest, pushing at him. "What right do you have to say something like that to me? You were spying on me?" Oliver didn't budge, and the leather felt warm against her skin. She could feel his heart pounding as clearly as she could feel her own.

"Yes. No. I was coming to see you." He stopped kissing her throat and pressed his cheek against hers. He didn't want to look in her eyes; he didn't want to analyze what they were feeling anymore. "I know I should, but just I can't stop this. You- you're supposed to be mine."

Felicity felt the words against her more than heard them, and she couldn't hang onto her anger, even though she wanted to. Her frustration was transforming into something more tangible. She could feel his weight against her and his breath on her skin. She couldn't resist for another second.

She turned her face toward his, and his lips met hers. It wasn't soft and sweet; it was searching and intense. One of her hands threaded through his hair, trying to pull him even further in, while the other clung to the leather covering his back.

Oliver felt like he was drowning in sunshine. He had been resisting her pull for so long, that it was as though her warmth was racing through him, recharging him. He felt her fingers in his hair and on his back, and he moved his own palm off the glass and onto her. One hand gripped her shoulder like it belonged there and the other traveled down her side. There was nothing on the planet softer than the skin on the outside of her thigh. He heard her quiet moan as he touched her, and he made it his goal in life to hear that sound as much as possible.

She couldn't get close enough to him. His lips were soft, warm, and urgent against hers, shifting and moving. Her lips parted and she felt him slip inside of her mouth just as his hand trailed from the outside of her thigh to the inside. As his hand inched higher, she could hardly stand the excitement of the heat of his leather glove against her; it was such a contrast to the cool air of night. She felt her legs shift, almost of their own accord, to give him more room. Suddenly there was a change in his body, and the urgency paused. His body was tense and his hand against her changed from a caress to a grip, as if he was afraid she would pull away.

"Mine," was the word he pressed against her lips. It was a demand, and at the same time, almost a plea. He kissed her again, and then he moved his arm from her shoulder to her hip in a sweeping gesture. "Mine." The plea was gone, and this time it was a statement. Felicity didn't have a problem with being his, but there was one thing that needed clarification. She gripped his hair in her fingers and pulled, hard, until he relented to back up enough to make eye contact. The blue in his eyes was piercing.

"That goes both ways." Did she even need to say that to him? As if he could even imagine being with anyone the way he was with her. The idea of being with anyone else was laughable. He felt his eyes crinkle as the very idea brought on a smile. He reached up and pulled her hand down from his hair. He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed her palm.

"Yours." He moved her hand to the fastenings on the front of his jacket. "All yours."'

...

Later, much later, Felicity found herself lying across Oliver's chest. They were both stretched out on the training mats. Oliver was staring up at the ceiling, rubbing a few strands of her hair between his fingers. She was fully aware that he was running scenarios in his head, making decisions and planning for them both. She knew he'd let her know when he was finished, and then she'd tell him how it was actually going to be. It wasn't going to be easy. Oliver wasn't magically going to learn to express his feelings, and his protective streak was probably only to get worse. She knew it would be complicated, but they could make it work. They mattered.

"Okay. First thing." At the sound of his voice, she turned. She picked up her glasses from where they had been carefully placed on the floor, crossed her arms on his chest, and rested her chin on them, ready to hear him out. "That dress," her eyes grew wide and flew to the gorgeous blue dress strewn on the floor. "You can't wear that anymore."

"Seriously?" Disappointment filled her eyes.

"Please? It drives me crazy knowing he picked that out for you." Oliver still hadn't looked down from the ceiling, like looking at her would make this conversation a real thing. Felicity repeated her mantra in her head. _We will make this work. We matter. _She let out a huge sigh. "Felicity?"

"We will make this work. So, for you, I will not wear that dress." She felt him relax. "On one condition." And the tension in him was back, but she was going to make such a concession worth her while. "I get to watch you on that salmon ladder at least twice a week for forever."

He finally looked down at her. "Done," he said with a smirk.


	2. Happy Valentine's Day

**This event is set sometime after the Season 3 premiere, but before Oliver leaves for the duel in 3.09. This could easily fit in perfect canon for the characters, although I know I took some timeline liberties to move Valentine's Day to before the mid-season finale. **

In order to catch this guy, Court, Oliver needed to be on the floor during the gala itself. They needed to get the data off of his phone without Court knowing, and he needed to keep using it as normal. The Arrow could easily take out this pawn, but the team still had no idea who was at the top of the pyramid in the recent jewelry free for all. If they wanted intel, they needed to attach themselves to this go-between, not just take him out of the game.

The trouble with Oliver infiltrating the gala was that this was a Valentine's Day Ball. The theme was famous couples, and there was no way Oliver Queen would show up single to such an event. Deciding on the scheme had brought about the current argument.

"I'm going," Felicity didn't even look up from her computer screen. She knew the angry face Oliver would be making at her declaration, and she didn't care.

"No you're not-"

" 'It's too dangerous,' " she mimicked back at him, interrupting his litany of reasons he didn't want her there. "It doesn't matter. You'll be right there. It'll be fine." At that, she spun around in her chair to face him. She could completely tell what was written all over his face. He was thinking back to the last time they got dressed up and went out, and he was seeing her lying on the med table.

In a quieter voice, she continued, "It won't be real. It's just a mission. All the attention will be where it needs to be." His jaw was clenched tightly, and he didn't reply.

"Fine, if you don't feel up to the challenge, then Roy will take me." Roy, who had been silently watching the exchange from a safe distance, stood up straighter when his name was brought up. He didn't move as Felicity pushed herself up out of her seat and strolled across the room, and his eyes grew wide as she threaded her arm through his.

"What do you say, Roy, want to be my Valentine?" Roy nearly panicked, almost as though he expected an arrow to pop through his chest before she could even finish talking. Oliver would kill him for even thinking about it, and Felicity could bring his world crashing around his ears. He had no clue what to do.

"Um, I don't.. um," He stammered out.

"Great!" Felicity cocked her head at an angle and smiled beatifically at Oliver. "Sounds like a plan." She paused for effect, "Although I suppose Oliver Queen could make a statement to the city and bring Roy himself." She bit her lip, waiting on his reaction.

Oliver moved from his position near her desk and began to stalk towards them. He ignored Roy as the poor kid tried to get Felicity to let go of his arm, and stood right in front of her.

"That is so not happening." His growl was one that had set many of Starling City's finest criminals to trembling, but Felicity didn't even begin to back down.

"Oh, is he not your type?" Her bright red lips pursed, and she silently dared him to keep telling her no.

"Fine, I'll take you." He gave in, though not very gracefully. Felicity finally released Roy, who darted away to put some space between them. Oliver shot a glaring look at him, and Roy shook his head emphatically.

"There is no way you blame me for that!" Oliver just raised his eyebrows and turned, watching Felicity saunter back to her desk.

"I'll bring the tech, the costumes, and the plan. You bring your pretty face and super stealth skills, and we'll all be fine." She settled back into her seat, and Oliver began to get a panicked feeling. He could feel the events spiraling out of his control.

"Diggle and I will pick you up, and I can take care of getting the costumes, at least." Felicity glanced over her shoulder at him, then sent a pointed look towards the glass case containing his Arrow gear. "No," he said in an annoyed tone. "No one will be wearing that."

"Good. Let's go for subtle, shall we?"

…

Diggle pulled the car up in front of Felicity's place, and Oliver was twitching in the backseat like he had never been on a date with a girl.

"Man, you have got to relax." Diggle's calm voice spread into the backseat, and Oliver took a breath. This was just any other mission on any other night, he reminded himself. He wasn't even planning on seeing any action, so there was no reason to be so tense. Oliver got out the car and went to open the door.

It opened before he could get there, and Felicity stood in front of him. Her long-sleeved, salmon colored dress was belted, and the sleeves billowed out as she pushed her loose hair back over her shoulders. She made a perfect Princess Buttercup, just as he'd known she would. She deserved to play the part of the most beautiful woman in the world. She shook her head and smiled, taking in his black boots, loose cut shirt, and rapier. He had the black mask attached to his belt, not wanting to give anyone ideas.

"Ready for a classic tale of high adventure, my Dread Pirate?" She asked, eyeing his sword especially.

"Yes, it's real, and yes I know how to use it. We might need it." He answered her unspoken question.

"Of course it is, and I never doubted you could use it." She started moving toward the car. "I should have known you'd manage to choose an outfit that included weapons."

…

As they walked into the ball, Oliver felt his chest get tight again. Felicity's casual attitude had kept his nerves at bay throughout the car ride, but now that they were here he resumed Arrow mode. He placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her through the room, as he cased their surroundings. Diggle and Roy could hear them through the comms, and he knew it was a safe as he could make it.

"Okay, so there are about a million couples in the place, everybody matched with their true love, so now we just need to find the right couple." She glanced up at him and realized what she had just said. "Not that we're in love, I mean, we… I mean… I'm going to stop now." Oliver stopped moving and looked down at the top of her head. He broke surveillance mode just long enough to smile down at her as she avoided looking up at him. She obviously wasn't as cool and calm as she was throwing out there.

"According to his credit card receipts, ee's dressed as Caesar and his date is Cleopatra. Horrible choice if you ask me. That didn't end well for either of them, and I'm pretty sure their entire love affair was just about politics. If you look into the actual history of the event-"

"Felicity." He said her name, and she immediately realized she had been rambling again. "So we just need to find Caesar?"

"Yep, and there's our Roman now." She inclined her head, and he followed her line of sight out towards the center of the dance floor. She turned back to him. "Get me close enough to tag his phone. It'll only take a second. Her hand reached into the top of her dress near her shoulder, and she pulled out the bug she had stashed there. She shoved it back away, but Oliver found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her skin at the neckline of her dress.

"Oliver," she said, breaking the moment, "Let's go." She stepped away, and he followed her out onto the floor.

As soon as they merged with the other couples, he slipped his arms around her. A dance was the only way to get close enough to Court and his date. Everything in him was tempted to forget the plan for just a moment and enjoy the feeling of Felicity in his arms. It was that exact desire that made him throw his whole self into the task at hand. He refused to let his own wants and needs interfere with the mission.

Ignoring the sensations of having Felicity moving with him and leaning into him, Oliver moved unwaveringly towards Caesar and his Cleopatra. When they were right next to them, Oliver turned abruptly, spinning Felicity into Court and stepping on the sandaled toes of his Egyptian Princess.

"Oh excuse me, I'm so sorry!" Felicity waved her hands around, fluttering about Court. Oliver turned on the charm and smiled at Court's date.

"How clumsy of me, I was distracted and lost my head." She couldn't resist him; most couldn't when he was smiling at them like that, and she beamed back. Court, watching the byplay of Oliver flirting with his date, completely ignored Felicity and started moving to stand between Oliver and Cleopatra.

Felicity, obviously finished with whatever it was she needed to do, darted around Court to grab Oliver's arm.

"We're so sorry. We were just leaving." Not letting go of his arm, she dragged him off of the dance floor. She didn't stop until they had reached an alcove in the corner of the ballroom. Still gripping the fabric of his shirt, she turned to face him. "Okay, any reason that we need to hang around here any longer? I think we could be done."

He could hardly believe it had been that easy. Oliver took a breath and looked around the room. The entire thing was paying homage to love and romance, and he knew that Felicity deserved a bit of both. The mission was done, and for a moment Oliver considered his next actions.

"We could stay a bit longer, if you'd like to have a real dance." He looked down at her. Her costume didn't include heels, so the height difference between them was even greater than normal. Her expression, which had been all business, shifted as she took in what he was saying.

"No," she said hesitantly, "I don't think that's a good idea. Things are messy enough without adding… that."

"Right, of course," Oliver replied immediately. "Let's go." He turned his attention to the comms. "Diggle, if you'll meet us out front, mission accomplished."

…

As they arrived back at the foundry, Oliver and Felicity both moved towards her computer. They had promised Diggle that they wouldn't do anything except gather intel and maybe scout some locations, so he headed home to Lyla. Roy had been given the evening off, since Oliver didn't seem to be in the mood to share this mission with him.

"Go gear up, and I'll have info on who we're after in a few minutes." Felicity turned her attention away from him, and Oliver moved to follow directions.

She wasn't lying. Within minutes connected to Court's phone, she had found out the name and location of the man in coordinating the jewelry robberies, and she thought she might even know where he was stashing pieces until he could sell them on the black market. The GPS location of the man hadn't altered in a couple of days, so he appeared pretty stationary.

As Oliver returned, leaning over her shoulder to look at the map of Starling City, she couldn't help but feel his heat radiating through his leather gear. "Does it feel better to go back to being the man in green?" She tried to break the tension of the moment, but it didn't seem to be abating.

"I'm going to go check it out." He moved towards the stairs, but as she spun around and sent him a quelling look, he answered, "I remember that I promised no action without Roy or Dig as back up. I meant it. I'm just looking, I swear." She eyed him until she was sure she believed him, and then turned back to her monitors. Oliver took a couple steps up the stairwell, but then he paused.

"Felicity," he called, and she turned back to look at him.

He couldn't stand the fact that she wasn't able to just have a normal holiday, like any other girl in Starling City. Oliver was determined that at least one good thing was going to happen to her this fourteenth of February. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box he'd been carrying around for a month.

"Here. Happy Valentine's Day." He tossed the box down to her, then turned and bounded out of the foundry before she could respond.

She held the small box in her hands. It was just a simple cardboard container, nothing fancy, but she was almost afraid to open it. Felicity had been working hard to build up a wall where Oliver was concerned, and no matter what was in the box, it was going to tear down a piece of that wall.

Realizing that her wall was going to crumble regardless, she carefully opened the lid. Nestled in tissue was a small golden arrow on a thin gold chain. She could tell that neither was store bought, not that Oliver was draping anyone in diamonds lately. She reached in and ran her hand over the polished metal, and felt the wall dissolve away, just as she'd known it would.


	3. The Reunion

**A reunion scene obviously inspired by an absent Oliver after 3.09, but really it could have been any extended absence. Felicity's POV. **

In the dim light of the foundry, Felicity rested her forehead on her hands. The cold rim of her glasses bit into her fingers, and she sat up enough to pull the frames from her face and place them on the desk beside her. Oliver had been gone on his mission for months. With no sign of him anywhere, it seemed less likely every day that he was ever coming back. She was nowhere near admitting that out loud, but the thought was constantly in her mind.

The weight of saving Starling was technically on the shared shoulders of Team Arrow, but most nights Felicity felt an extra burden. The team kept the city safe, but keeping her heroes safe was on her. At the end of the day, she was responsible for the intel, and she made the calls. Last night they had taken out a major drug trafficking ring, and she had decided that her team needed a break. They were all supposed to be at home, Felicity included. Despite their agreement, she knew there was a good chance that Roy was wandering around, guarding the night and unable to sleep. She couldn't bear to go home for the night either, so she didn't blame him.

The police scanner she was monitoring hadn't mentioned anything major since she turned it on, and Felicity knew that she should leave. She might even do it, in a little while, but it wasn't a tempting move. Here at the foundry it was almost as though she could feel Oliver there with her, and the idea of going back to her place seemed like the loneliest thing she could imagine.

…

She didn't know what brought her awake, but her head jerked up, and her eyes went straight to her computer. Despite her sight being fuzzy, she could see that over an hour had passed. Trying to shake the grogginess off, she spun away from the desk.

That was when she spotted him. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, still as a statue. Even with her blurry vision, there was not a single doubt in her mind who the man in front of her was. The problem was she didn't believe it. It wasn't the first time she had dreamed of him. She could see Oliver in her mind right now, telling her he loved her before disappearing up the stairs.

And now she was seeing him again, this time standing right in front of her. She didn't reach back for her glasses. She didn't want to see clearly. She just wanted to live in the delusion, the dream, whatever it was, for a few more moments. Felicity wouldn't close her eyes or blink for fear the vision would vanish and she would be alone again, so she remained frozen in her chair.

It could have been a second or it could have been hours, she didn't know, but it was the vision of Oliver who broke the stillness. He took a hesitant step away from the staircase.

"Felicity?" His tone asked it like he was questioning whether or not she was real. When she didn't answer, barely breathing, he stepped closer. Even though he moved lightly, she could hear his steps like they were amplified. Her visions didn't usually include sound effects, but she didn't doubt that her desperation could make anything happen.

He didn't stop until he was standing directly in front of her. He was so close that his expression and the lines of concern on his face were clear to her. His hand came to rest gently on hers where she gripped the arm of the chair for dear life. She was almost numb, and she barely felt the contact, unable to move or drag her eyes from his face. Ignoring what had to be freezing concrete, Oliver slowly knelt down in front of her until they were eye level.

"Felicity." His quiet murmur wasn't a question this time, but more of an affirmation that she was real. Suddenly, he leaned over, threw his other arm around her, and buried his head in her lap.

For the first time, the fact that maybe she wasn't dreaming entered her mind. Afraid as she was to believe that it might be true, she lifted her free hand and gingerly ran her fingers over his hair. He felt so real. His warmth was surrounding her, and it was as though she had been cold forever. She closed her eyes against the tears she felt welling up, and breathed him in. Even in the casual gray t-shirt and ill fitting jeans he was wearing, she swore she could still make out the scent of leather and man that made up Oliver Queen. She couldn't have made that up.

She ran the fingers of one hand through his hair and turned her other hand upward to thread her fingers through his. Felicity grabbed on like she was never letting go. Oliver turned his head, and she felt his lips move against her. Barely able to make out a sound, she felt more than heard his whispered "I'm sorry."

It was the start of an important conversation that was just going to have to wait. She was going to need to know exactly what he'd gone through, who was responsible, and why on earth he wasn't able to get word to the team… to get word to her. But that was not a conversation that was going to happen now.

Right now there was something that she needed more than information, and that idea that was shocking in itself. Felicity couldn't recall in her history a time when she was she was less interested in the 'whys' and 'hows' of it all. She pulled on his hair with enough force to urge his head up, and she met his eyes. Whatever he saw there put a stop to the explanation that he was clearly about begin. Felicity slid forward in the seat, bringing her body against his as she lowered her knees to the floor. Her desk chair rolled back, and she set her mind to getting as close to him as possible.

She buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his back. Her fists clutched the soft fabric of his shirt, and every inch of her from her knees up was pressed against him. Oliver wrapped his own arms around her, holding her so tightly that it felt like she was in a vice. If she hadn't been so desperate for the contact, she might have worried about bruises.

They stayed kneeling on the floor for a moment, and then Oliver moved to sit. Felicity stayed pressed against him, as though if an inch got between them the world would end. He tried to turn her so that she could rest in his lap, but she was having none of it. Instead of turning to the side, she placed one knee on either side of his thighs. She felt the edge of her pencil skirt dig into her skin, straining against the stretch, but she didn't care.

Oliver's arms had relinquished their death grip, but his hands never left her. They moved soothingly over her back, up to her hair, and finally one landed on her leg where it was pressed against him. The other rubbed gently on the back of her neck.

Felicity could feel him surrounding her, and she pressed her lips against the skin of his neck. His scent was overwhelming, and she was positive that she couldn't have stopped herself from tasting him if the world depended on it. She opened her lips and just grazed his throat with the tip of her tongue. Pressed against him as she was, there was no missing the vibrations of a moan as Oliver reacted to the contact.

He pulled away and just before a cold settled in at being rejected, Felicity felt his lips press warmly against hers. She opened up, trying to taste more of him. As she pressed even more firmly against him, his hand dropped away from her and moved to the floor behind him to brace himself. The sensations around her were overwhelming, from the denim of his jeans on the insides of her legs to the warm slide of his lips against hers. Anything that wasn't him faded, and she couldn't possibly have told someone that the floor of the foundry was freezing cold.

Trailing his other hand across the skin of her thigh, Oliver seemed to notice how tight the hem of her dress was as she strained to spread out and surround him even more. He slid the tips of his fingers under the bottom of the dress, relieving a bit of the pressure. Of course, pushing it higher would have relieved even more.

It was when his hand seemed to come to that same realization that Felicity was shocked into pausing for a moment. She moved a hand to cover his on her thigh, and at the same time she pulled her lips away from his. Oliver stilled immediately. She didn't back away any further; she just leaned in to rest her forehead against his.

"Felicity, we can stop." Oliver's voice was so rough she could have believed his voice modulator was on. "We can-"

"Wait." Felicity, short of breath, covered his lips with her fingers, not backing away a bit. "Just one thing."

"Anything," he murmured against her hand.

"Never again. I'm done." At her words, tension shot through Oliver. She could feel him become like a stone. "Not with this, this is so not done," she corrected his misunderstanding with a half smile on her face. Slowly the tension ebbed, and she continued. "You are not leaving me behind again. I can't stand being left here not knowing. I don't care what, when, or why, but the next time you leave on some crazy mission, you are taking me with you." She was still pressed up against him, too close to see his face, but she had to make sure that he understood. "I get it. It's crazy dangerous and not safe, but I've said it before. I don't want to be safe, I want to be with you. You will not leave Starling City again unless I'm with you." She pulled back from his forehead and her lips hovered just a breath away from his. "Got it?"

The moment dragged on, and she thought for a second that just this once Oliver might actually tell her no.

"Okay, I got it." The words were punctuated by his lips closing the gap between them.


	4. Felicity's Night Off

**Felicity needs a break from the pressures of Starling City. Set shortly after Oliver & Felicity's disastrous first date in the Season 3 premiere. This is mostly Felicity, so I'm hoping I got her character right! Feedback is always appreciated!**

She was on a break. A break from work, a break from drama, a break from crime, whatever. Felicity Smoak was not taking any calls. She had made the team promise not to take any undo risks, and Roy was getting a tiny bit better at the basic Arrow Cave tasks. He could monitor police scans, track the team's GPS signals, and man the comms. They would be fine for a couple of days. Ray at her "real job" could deal with the fact that she was taking time off and out of Starling City.

She tossed her bags down beside the giant bed, and dropped to sit on the mattress. The luxury hotel she was staying in was just over an hour outside of town, and she couldn't wait to get to her spa treatment in the morning. Naturally, she'd also packed a bag full of new tech to play with. Massages and new toys- she couldn't think of a better way to spend her rare time.

Being around Oliver was nearly a constant strain now. Before the night that everything blew up figuratively and literally, he had always just humored her when her brain inevitably failed to filter her thoughts, but now it was different. There seemed to be so much weight behind every comment and behind every lingering glance. She knew it couldn't go anywhere, he had made that clear, so she just needed a bit of distance.

Glancing around her room, Felicity took in the huge expanse of the bed, the giant windows offering a view of the night sky, and the warm tones that covered all the walls and drapery. A girl could get used to this.

The last few times she had gotten made up and gone out had all been for Oliver. There was their disastrous attempt at a date, and before that she had been attending his parties or going under cover. Felicity was determined that, just for tonight, she was going to get dressed up and go down to the hotel's restaurant. For once, she would pick out something to wear and do her hair, and not wonder whether or not Oliver Queen would like it.

She opened up her bag and pulled out a small black dress that she had been dying for an excuse to wear. It was probably shorter than appropriate, but there was no one to care. She hung up the dress in the closet before moving into the over-sized bathroom of the suite. She turned the water on hot, and started pulling off her jacket. Tonight was all about her.

…

A while later, Felicity walked into the bar on the first floor of the hotel. The dim light set a relaxed tone, and Felicity was thrilled to have an evening where she didn't have anyone to keep secrets from and didn't have to guard everything she said. The part of her that was constantly running variables and risk factors was tired, and it was happy to have the night off.

The light glistened off her hair, and she was completely oblivious to the fact that she drew the eyes of half the bar when she passed through. Her black dress had spaghetti straps that ran over her shoulders and connected behind her neck. The two straps met together there and ran down in a twist to meet the back of the dress. She wasn't wearing any jewelry except for a small silver bracelet, and her hair flowed in soft waves over her shoulders. She'd put her contacts in, and she was pretty sure that most of Starling City wouldn't even recognize her tonight.

When she took a seat at the bar, she was determined to have an easy night. Maybe a little light flirtation, or maybe she would make friends with the bartender. Weren't bartenders all supposed to be friendly? The only bartenders she knew were the ones at Verdant, and she considered most of them to be friends if not family, so that idea worked for her.

Throughout the night several different men sat down next to her, but none had lasted very long. A few made it through buying her a drink, but most left within a few minutes of trying to keep up with her. It was her night, after all, and if all she wanted to talk about the benefits of particle acceleration and the personal costs of the Central City explosion, then that's what she'd talk about. It wasn't her fault these people couldn't come up with reasonable responses. She'd talk, they'd listen, and a few would even pretend to know what she was talking about.

Eventually Felicity had had her fill of babbling to people who were completely lost, and she figured she'd venture back up to her room, curl up in her amazing bed, and find some people online to chat with who could actually have coherent responses.

She was on the elevator when she noticed that her bracelet was missing. She gasped, and grabbed her wrist. It was her grandmother's bracelet, and she hardly ever wore it. It was somewhat valuable; it did have a few very small inlaid diamonds, but its sentimental valuable was priceless. She immediately stopped the ascent of the elevator and headed back to the bar. She couldn't believe that the clasp would have broken- it wasn't very delicate and it had survived much more hazardous evenings in its existence than sitting still at a bar.

When she made it back downstairs, Felicity rushed back to where she'd been sitting. Her gaze raked the floor near her seat, and she didn't see any sign of her bracelet.

"Excuse me," she called out to Jonathan, the bartender whom she'd entertained all evening by running off all the men who approached her.

"Felicity, back so soon?" He walked over to her and leaned against the bar.

"Did you see my bracelet anywhere? I wore it down here, and now it's gone." Her anxiety must have been clear, because he stood up straight and was serious when he answered. She couldn't help but rub her wrist in the place where the bracelet should have sat.

"No, I didn't see it, and no one has turned in any jewelry." He sent her a concerned look. "Are you positive you wore it down here?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she murmured, already distracted with deciding on her next move. Felicity hurried away and headed back onto the elevator. If she hacked into the security footage from the hotel she could see exactly when and where she'd lost the bracelet.

As she entered her hotel suite, she toed off her heels and grabbed her bag of tech. She pulled out her laptop, and it was mere seconds before she was connected to the wifi and breaking through to the hotel's server. Perched on the bed, she was leaning over the laptop. Her hair kept sliding down into her face, and she absently wondered where she'd left one of her hair ties.

"Almost… there!" She found the camera pointed at the bar, and started backing it up. Once she spotted herself, she could tell immediately that she wasn't wearing her bracelet when she got up to leave the bar at the end of the evening. Within another few moments, she came to a screen where she could see the bracelet on her wrist. Luckily she'd been holding her drink in her hand, and it left a clear line of sight.

She slowed down the frame, and that's when she saw exactly what had happened.

"Oh my god, that jerk!" The man she was talking to had reached out towards her, and in a split second her bracelet wasn't on her wrist anymore. "That thief has no idea who he's messing with." Her eyes squinted as she got ready to take this guy on. She had facial recognition software saved on her hard drive thanks to her night time activities, and she ran him through the database.

He popped up within seconds. "Adam Sloan." It wasn't very nice of him to go stealing a girl's valuables. The problem was that Sloan wasn't just a one time pick pocket or petty thief. Apparently he was wanted in several states and had a history of violence. He was considered to be dangerous.

As tempting as it was just to go knock on his door and threaten to destroy him, she knew it would be better to get more back up involved. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure that calling the police wouldn't cause them to ask a bunch of questions about how she obtained her information. She sighed, and admitted to herself that her vacation was about to be severely interrupted.

She flipped open her cell and called Diggle's number. Maybe she could avoid any real drama. If he would come help her get her bracelet back, they could just leave Sloan packaged up for the local police to find on their own.

He answered on the second ring, knowing she was supposed to be out of commission for the night. "What's wrong?"

"You know, I could just be calling to chat." She answered him. When silence was the only response, she could practically feel his eyebrow lifting. Felicity filled him in on the basics, then asked if there was any way that he could come help her out.

"Felicity, I hate to tell you this, but Lyla had an ARGUS emergency and headed out of town. There's nobody else to take of Sara, so I have to stay. Oliver's on duty tonight, you know he'll come running." Now it was her turn for a meaningful pause. "Felicity, whatever you do, you swear to me right now that you aren't going to go after that guy on your own." When she maintained her silence, he growled into the phone "Felicity!"

"You know," she answered him, "with a little more work your growl could take on Oliver's."

"Not the answer I'm waiting on," Diggle replied.

"Fine," she sighed into the phone, "I promise not to go after him alone."

"Good." He sounded relieved. "Deal with whatever you're avoiding and just call Oliver." With that parting note, he hung up the phone.

Felicity stared at her cell and contemplated calling Roy. He was perfectly capable of helping her out. He wouldn't have anything keeping him in Starling, and he could be there within a couple of hours. Even as she thought about it, she knew she wouldn't do it. Oliver would kill Roy if he came to help her out without telling him, and if Oliver knew about it there's no way he would stay in Starling. As tempted as she was, she didn't want to torture Roy by making him deal with their issues.

She took a deep breath and dialed. Oliver answered before the first ring was done.

"What wrong?" He already sounded like he was wearing his angry face.

"Seriously, I'm not loving that as my standard greeting."

"Felicity, you made us swear not to bother you unless an actual apocalypse was occurring. You aren't calling to check on the weather, so what's wrong?"

She proceeded to fill him in, her voice catching as she described her bracelet. Telling him about it seemed to make the loss real, unlike anything else that she'd done so far.

"So, is there a chance you can come out here and help me get it back?"

"I'll be at your room in about thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes? How is that even possible? Have you added flying to your list of talents?"

"I started heading that way as soon as you called Diggle. He texted you were calling him…" His voice trailed away. "And I drive fast."

"Right," she said slowly. "Okay. Room 528. I'll see you when you get here."

Felicity spent the time gathering information about Adam Sloan, wanting the police to have everything that they needed to make a clean arrest. She planned to leave it all on the jump drive she'd attach to him before she and Oliver left him as a tidy present for the police.

She almost didn't hear the knock at the door. She slid off of the bed, not noticing that the slide dragged the hem of her dress up even higher, and bounded barefoot across the carpet to let Oliver in. She threw open the door, then turned and headed back for her laptop.

"Okay, it took some searching because of course he's staying here under a false name, but I tracked him to room 432. That's only one floor down. We have a few choices, the most obvious being you bursting in, going all arrow-y on him, and just making him give back my bracelet. We could also sneak in; you're stealth marks are high." She snatched her laptop off the bed, and turned back to face Oliver while she checked the security cameras on her computer. "The stealth mode is probably better- no use advertising the Arrow stopped through town tonight." At this point she finally realized that Oliver wasn't answering her and looked up at him.

He was staring at her with his eyes just a bit wide, and he certainly didn't appear to be weighing the options of her plan. She had no idea how she looked to him, standing there in that gorgeous and way too short dress, with her hair flowing like spun gold, and a huge, inviting bed right behind her.

"Were you wearing that tonight?" He nearly growled at her. She did a double take at both his comment and his tone.

"No, Oliver," she replied sarcastically, "I put it on to go to bed." His eyes got even wider as she mentioned going to bed, and she began to turn red. "We are not having this conversation. Nope, not happening. Moving on." He pulled off his sweatshirt and tossed it to her, and she decided the most prudent move would just be to go along with him. She pulled it over her head, pushing her arms through the sleeves. It fell nearly to her knees, covering her entirely. She just shook her head and moved on.

In the end, they went with the stealth plan. Felicity rigged it up so that she could call and order room service to his suite, and the two of them stalked the room until the staff arrived. Even as Sloan opened the door, Felicity stepped out and distracted the waiter. Oliver slipped in behind Sloan, elbowed him in the face (possibly a bit harder than necessary), shoved him back from the doorway, and smoothly proceeded to take the room service. He even gave the waiter a nice tip.

While their thief was out, Felicity rummaged through his things. She had no trouble finding her bracelet, along with a stash of jewelry no doubt swiped from other victims. Oliver left the man handcuffed to his suitcase filled with ill-gotten gains, and Felicity helpfully placed the chain of her flash drive around his neck.

The two of them left, and the event was over. The two of them walked back into her suite, and you would have thought they had just gone for an evening stroll.

As they entered the room, Oliver reached over and took the bracelet from her. Instinctively, she ran her fingers around her wrist. He reached out and took her wrist in his hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the spot she'd been touching since the bracelet went missing. Heat rushed through her at the contact. He then took the bracelet and placed it around her wrist. Despite his hands being so much larger than hers, of course his fingers easily navigated the tiny clasp of the bracelet. He kept his hand in place on the clasp for a moment after he was finished, and the tension built in the room.

Suddenly, she jerked her hand away from his. "Okay," she said. "I'll just erase the footage of us coming and going from his hallway." She moved to her laptop, still sitting on the bed, and tapped out commands into her keyboard.

"Do you want to stay here?" Oliver looked at her, hesitant to demand that she pack up and go with him, but clearly not wanting to leave her behind.

She sighed, knowing that her vigilante was not leaving for Starling City unless Felicity was right there with him. So much for her night of relaxation.

"Let me get changed, and then we'll go." Her voice was disappointed and resigned, and she knew it. She grabbed her bag and slipped into the bathroom. She pulled off his sweatshirt and her dress, and she replaced it with yoga pants and a t-shirt. She found a band and pulled her hair back into her usual ponytail. If she wasn't going to be relaxing in the lap of luxury, she was at least going to be comfortable.

When Felicity came back out, the room was empty. She looked around and noticed a note written on hotel stationary sitting on top of her laptop. "I trust you to call me if you need anything. Stay. I'll see you back in the city." Oliver had actually left. She seriously couldn't believe it. Sinking down onto the bed, she let her barrier drop, and the relief that she felt was overwhelming. She had been willing to deal with her issues and head home, knowing that her being here was adding to Oliver's worries, but she was desperate for this one weekend away from Starling City. She needed this break so that the pressures of guiding Team Arrow didn't crush her. Realizing that she wasn't going to lose this break somehow made it easier to breathe.

Ready to crash, she cleared off the bed and crawled under the covers. Surprisingly, sleep wasn't instantaneous. After a few minutes, she caved in to her urge and reached out for Oliver's sweatshirt that she'd taken off earlier. She pulled it over her head, and grabbed her cell. "Thank you," was the message she typed out. Feeling like he was surrounding her, and knowing she could call him any time and he'd be there in a heartbeat, she was able to drift off.

…

In the room next door, Oliver lay on the bed. He knew more than anyone how much Felicity needed a break. He wouldn't drag her back to the city just yet, but there was still no way he could just leave her here. The city had Roy, and for a couple of nights it would just have to do. He promised himself he wouldn't check in on her unless she asked, that he would just stay close enough to be there if she needed him. His phone vibrated, and he snatched it up to see her message. "Thank you." He released a breath, and closed his eyes. Knowing she was safe on the other side of the wall, he might even be able to sleep tonight.


	5. Oliver Needs Felicity's Help

**While I was still inspired by where the characters are in the first half of season three, this scene could have taken place earlier in the Olicity timeline. It works in canon with Oliver & Felicity. I'd love to hear what you think, and thank you to the people who've been awesome enough to leave reviews!**

A sudden clang beside her made her jump into the air. A quick glance down was all it took for Felicity to spot the scissors that had been tossed on the top of her desk. The low light of the foundry reflected off the blades, and she was completely confused.

She swiveled her desk chair around, and there was Oliver. He was standing nearby, looking amazing as usual in a gray t-shirt. She should probably have been happy that he had on a shirt at all so that she'd pay enough attention to figure out what was going on. He pushed another chair across the floor until it stopped in front of her, and then he came around and sank down in the seat.

He was so close that he knees were almost touching hers, and despite his lack of exposed skin, she could feel her mind drifting. Right, scissors. She picked them up and cocked her head to the side.

"And what exactly are these for?"

Oliver ran his hand through his hair. He had recently gotten back from a mission that took him away from Starling for over a month, and he had admittedly let his hair get quite a bit longer than his usual.

"Just a quick trim. It's not a big deal, but it's starting to get in my way." He stated his request nonchalantly, like Felicity had been his barber for ages.

"Oh, no. No way." Felicity dropped the scissors into his lap and backed her chair up as far as possible. "First of all, you are so only asking me because I'm a girl. You could totally let Digg or Roy take care of that. Second of all, you've been getting million dollar haircuts for years now, and I don't think a cut from me would be worth pennies. No. Not going to happen."

Oliver took in her speech without reacting, then he palmed the blade of the scissors and calmly pointed the handles back at her.

"Felicity, I spent years cutting my hair with knife if I bothered to cut it at all. Whatever you manage to make of it will be fine, and it will get it out of my way."

She made no move to accept the scissors. "Then do it yourself!" was her solution. If he hadn't been crowding her into her desk space she would have moved even farther away from him.

"Felicity, I need your help. You'll be quick, and it'll be fine." He looked straight at her, his eyes a sincere blue. "Please?"

She sighed. She had never been able to say no when he looked at her like that, like he really needed her. Granted, she hated this particular task. Getting that close to him was disruptive to her equilibrium, and now she was supposed to be responsible for his appearance too? Shaking her head, she gave in and reached for the scissors.

"Fine, I'll do it." When she wrapped her fingers around the handle, Oliver brought his other arm up to clasp her hand in his.

"Thank you." He gave her his happy smile, one she saw so rarely, and she melted. She melted, even knowing he was not going to be making that face when he looked in the mirror later.

"You know I have no siblings, no boyfriends who needed trims, nothing? No experience whatsoever. I know a lot of things, but not how to cut hair. You could have at least given me a chance to do some research or practice. I hate not doing things well-"

"Felicity, it's just hair, not a cryptic cyber code." While she had been rambling, he'd spun his chair around so his back was to her. She stood up and came to stand directly behind him. As she brought her hands up, she came to the realization that this was the perfect excuse to do something that she'd been wanting to do for years. She threaded her fingers through his hair, running the tips of them over his scalp.

She could have sworn that he leaned into her hand to increase the contact, but it may have been her imagination. Tempting as it was, she knew she couldn't spend the entire night running her hands through his hair. Felicity looked at the scissors, than looked at him one more time. She could do this. How bad could it be?

…

A little while later Felicity dropped the scissors back onto her desk. She was done. She angled her head and circled around Oliver. He was making her examination difficult because he wouldn't stop turning his head to watch her, and he looked like he was harboring a secret joke.

"I don't know what you think is so funny about me maiming you," Felicity said to him, her tone sour.

"Speaking as someone who has been maimed a few times, this is something I promise to survive." Oliver brushed the rest of the hair off of his shoulders and stood up. As he moved the chair back where it belonged, the sound of the foundry door opening echoed through the room.

Oliver didn't even glance up, but Felicity sank into her seat and buried her face in her hands. No matter which team member was walking through the door, she didn't want to see their face when they noticed Oliver.

"What the hell, man?" Diggle's voice rang out through the lair. "Were you in an accident or something?" Felicity just groaned, and she turned her chair back to face the computers.

"No, I just got a haircut." Oliver answered calmly.

"With what, a machete?" Diggle's tone was incredulous, and Felicity refused to look at him.

"Let it go. Why did you come back tonight? I thought you were having dinner at home?"

"We're seriously going to ignore your makeover?" When Oliver didn't answer, Diggle gave in and moved on. "Okay, then. We have a message from ARGUS. They have an address they're planning on checking out in the area and wanted me to ask nicely for you to leave them be." He paused meaningfully. "So, you want to go check it out?"

"Let me change, and we can head out."

Diggle pulled out his cell to check his messages, and Oliver turned and walked toward his suit. Felicity jumped up and intercepted him.

"You are not going out there where people can see you?" She was whispering, but her panic was obvious.

"Felicity?" His eyes went over her head to look at his suit pointedly. "There's a hood, remember?"

"Right, okay." She took a breath and nodded, realizing he wasn't going to get seen that night. "Then at least swear to me that you'll get it fixed before anyone in public sees you as Oliver Queen." He started to just shake his head at her, but she put her hand out and placed it on his chest.

He froze, staring down at her hand. "Promise me." She said it again, and he relented.

"Fine, I'll let someone else have a turn at it." At that she pulled back and away, acknowledging that they had been eliminating personal space quite a bit that night. As she walked back to her computers, she saw Diggle leaning against a support nearby. He just shook his head at her, and she decided to ignore him.

As she settled back into her desk chair, she got the address from Diggle and started doing some recon on the place the team was headed. When the pair of them headed for the stairs a few minutes later, Felicity stopped them.

"Oliver," she called over her shoulder. "Break your promise and I'm going to find something to break. You won't like it." She didn't need to look back to know that he was cocking a half smile as he walked up the stairs.

She could almost have sworn she heard him murmur, "Worth it," but surely that was just another thing she was imagining tonight.


	6. Oliver's Birthday

**A/N Set in Season 3 sometime between their date and Oliver's leaving for the duel. Again I took some timeline liberties to put Oliver's birthday in there. I hope you think that it suits the characters! **

"No, no, no…," Felicity murmured as she manned the computers. She watched the dot on her computer screen that represented Oliver on his bike. It was rapidly gaining on the dot representing the gang of art thieves. She had been hoping they would be nowhere in sight and Team Arrow could give up the chase for the night.

She had been promised a night off. She had made Oliver promise everyone, including himself, this night off. She wasn't supposed to be down here in the foundry, and Oliver certainly wasn't supposed to be speeding through the glades in pursuit of bad guys. Felicity had plans- plans that were being greatly interfered with. "I don't suppose we can just let this one go until tomorrow?" she asked into her comms sullenly. It was not the first time she had made the request.

"What?" was the response in her ear. "Felicity, you can go, I got this." At that point, Oliver arrived at the truck he'd been tracking down for the last couple of hours and gave it his full attention.

Felicity sighed and pulled her comms off her ear. The group was made up of criminals with hardly any violent records, and she was confident that Oliver could take them all down. The problem was that he wasn't supposed to have been out chasing bad guys tonight. She looked at her screen that showed the surveillance of Verdant above them. There were a few stragglers, but the dance floor had pretty much cleared out. Green balloons covered the ceiling, and the _Happy Birthday Oliver_ banner hung, somewhat dilapidated, over the bar. Standing under it were Thea and Roy, so at least someone was still there. Diggle and Lyla had to go home and relieve the babysitter over an hour earlier. Laurel had a court case early the next day, so she had headed home. She hadn't been in a partying mood lately, but to her credit she had been there to try and support Oliver.

As far as Thea knew, Roy and Oliver weren't exactly tight, so basically there was nothing left of Felicity's party except some awkward moments. Granted, most of the earlier assembled crowd hadn't been Oliver's nearest and dearest, but that didn't mean they couldn't party.

Felicity sent Roy a text and told him she was giving up the battle and he should head home. She also asked him to do her favor and make up something to tell Thea so she wouldn't hold the place open for them. She put her elbows on the desk and rested her chin in her hands. As frustrating as the man could be, he put so much of himself into being the Arrow that she had been looking forward to giving him as night off to just be Oliver.

…

An hour later she finally heard the slam of the foundry door and his footsteps as he headed down the stairs. She spun her chair to look at him.

"Felicity?" He shot her a confused look as he moved to put his bow away. "I thought you needed to head out. What are you still doing here?"

Felicity looked at him, tilting her head a bit to read if he was messing with her, then she realized he genuinely had no idea why she would have waited on him tonight. "You know, I don't know." She answered honestly. "I was just heading out."

"Wait a minute, and I'll walk you out!" He called from where he was changing around the corner. "It's really late, and the club has completely emptied."

"Don't I know it," Felicity muttered.

"What?" Oliver asked as he came back into the light. He had switched his Arrow gear for jeans and a gray t-shirt, and for a just a moment Felicity couldn't take her eyes off of him. The only time he ever seemed relaxed at all lately was right after a save, and even that little bit of released tension caused him to draw her towards him like a magnet.

"What?" She answered intelligently. "Oh, leaving now. Right." She stood up, grabbing her jacket and her purse. As she moved for the stairs, she heard his phone go off.

"Thea thinks she left a door unlocked in the club. She knew I was out late tonight and asked me to swing by and check on it. Can we leave through that entrance instead of the back way?" As Felicity paused at the bottom of the stairs, Oliver moved right past her.

"Um, actually…" She shook her head and then gave in, following him up the stairs. He opened the door to the main floor, and she heard it at the same time he did.

There was soft music playing, and Oliver froze in the doorway. Felicity drew up behind him and looked over his shoulder. The low lights over the dance floor were on, seeming to beg someone to fill the space. The bar itself was lit up, and there in all its glory hung her banner. Sitting underneath it was a bottle with a note. Without looking back at her, Oliver headed toward the bar.

"Thea must have hung that up for you, how sweet!" Felicity did not want to have this moment. It was supposed to have been a group thing; a family thing. Not just her and Oliver. She rushed to try and save the moment. "Is today your birthday?" She stepped quickly into the club, headed for Oliver.

He set his elbows on the bar and read aloud the card in his hands. "Hey big brother, somebody went to a bit of work here, and I'd hate for you to miss out on it due to your habitual absenteeism. Happy Birthday! Love you!" His mouth quirked up at her reference his being constantly late or missing, and he folded the card shut.

At that point he turned to face Felicity. It was painfully obvious who had set up the evening.

"Happy Birthday," she said, somewhat lamely. "Look, everyone was here, not just me. They helped. We had food. It was good, for the record. And then we danced. Well, people danced. There was dancing. You had a nice birthday party, even if you missed it." She didn't meet his eyes while she was babbling.

"Felicity," he interrupted her, and she realized that he was standing right in front of her. She looked at the pocket on his t-shirt. She felt his hand on her arm, and finally glanced up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Finally, she was able to answer something coherently.

"Can I have a birthday dance?" As her eyes got wide, his hand dropped away from her arm and took a hold of her purse and jacket. He gently pulled them away from her and draped them over the bar. "You said people danced. I want to be one of those people. Just for tonight." When she still hesitated, he put his hand on her elbow and steered her until she was facing the dance floor. "Please?"

Things had been slightly off between them lately, and she knew it, but this minute seemed like it wasn't a part of reality. The music and lighting set it apart of the real world, and maybe for just a song they could just live in the moment. She nodded.

As they reached the dance floor, she looped her arms around the back of his neck. Oliver brought his hands down to rest at her sides. As they started to sway to the music, they both seemed to drift closer at the same time. Looking into the blue of Oliver's eyes was too intense, so Felicity ducked her head and rested against his chest. One of his arms drifted further to wrap around her, and it felt like they were right where they belonged.

It could have been seconds or hours, Felicity wasn't sure, but as the music from the song ended, she knew so had their moment. Nothing had changed, and she needed to get some space. If she didn't move away right then, she wasn't sure that she ever would. She pulled away from him, and he didn't stop her.

"I should go. It's late." She hurried over and scooped her things off the bar, while he stood still, just watching her. She headed for the front door, and as she opened it he came up behind her. She knew he planned to keep an eye on her until she got into her car. Fortunately she could see where she'd parked from the door.

He still hadn't said anything as she walked down the steps, but then she heard him call her name.

"Felicity!"

She turned back for a moment to see him silhouetted in the doorway of the club. She couldn't make out his expression, just his outline, but it was enough.

"Happy Birthday, Oliver." As she turned back and made it to her car, she heard his voice.

"Thank you," she heard one more time.


	7. Same First Kiss, Different Conversation

**A/N This picks up directly after the end of their first kiss as it happened in the episode, with an alternate conclusion. **

"Don't ask me to say that I don't love you." Felicity could feel the words as he spoke, his voice low, intense, and gravelly. She could feel them burning through her. Oliver's palms cupped her face like she was made of glass, as though he was cherishing her. It was so sweet, and it so did not match the turmoil of the emotions running through her. Even though her brain was running at the speed of light, the moment seemed so still, as though his lips pressed against hers had stopped time.

"No," she whispered. She stepped back just a hairsbreadth, and while Oliver let her go, his hands didn't drop away. "No." She said more firmly. She lifted her own hands and grasped his wrists, pulling them down. Oliver's eyes opened, and he stepped back in surprise.

"You do not get to make this decision. This is about both of us." To emphasize the word 'both,' Felicity put both hands on Oliver's chest and pushed him back towards the wall. It was a testament to his shock that he let her. "You seem to think that the Arrow and Oliver Queen are two different people. Well, that's crap. They are both you, and guess what? I know them both. I care about them both. And I believe they both care about me. So this is me weighing in on this three-way I'm apparently involved in." Even though she didn't pause to breathe, Oliver's eyes widened at her referring to them as a three-way. "My say matters, and I say we're not done. I say we're doing this."

"Felicity," His tone was pleading, and he shook his head. "We can't-"

"No, what we can't do is just pretend there's nothing happening here." She shoved him again, and Oliver backed up to the wall behind him, cornered. "So, here are your options. You and I can keep making a go at this. We spend our days and our nights together." At the reference to spending the night with him she lost her momentum just a bit. "I mean, our days as us and our nights saving the city."

"I know what you meant," Oliver said, "but-"

"No buts." Felicity interrupted him to continue her tirade. "Whether or not we're together romantically doesn't change the danger we're in. It doesn't make the bad guys scarier or weapons more deadly. The only thing that's going to make a difference is if I'm not around you at all."

Her tone was deadly serious, and Oliver felt his heart drop to his stomach at the idea of her leaving.

"So that's your call. I've had my say and you know how I feel." Felicity finally seemed to wind down. She looked him straight in the eye. "Think about it, but do it quickly." She reached up again and made a fist in the fabric at the collar of his shirt. "I'm not waiting around on you any more, Oliver Queen." She angled her head, went up on her toes, and used every ounce of strength she had to pull him down to her. Her lips met his and it was different this time. Just a moment before the kiss had been sweet, and filled with his message of love and goodbye. Felicity's purpose was different. She wanted him to know what he'd be missing.

The kiss went on for a moment, as Oliver required a second to recover from his surprise before becoming a participant. The second he completely caved in and brought his arms up to wrap them around her, Felicity decided she had made her point. She stepped back, and looked into his eyes to make sure that he got her message. This time she could see all the confusion and indecision on his face, mixed with real desire.

With that, she turned abruptly and walked away from him. He watched her, trying to stem down the panic that had arisen at the idea of having a life without her in it. He had no idea how to be the Arrow without her. He was still working on how to be Oliver at all, let alone if she was gone. The few times she had left town his world seemed to screech to a halt. He heard the elevator ding at the end of the hallway, and it brought him back to the present. Oliver didn't know _how_ they could make it work, but in that moment, after listening to her logic and feeling her strength, he absolutely knew that they would just have to. He took off down the hallway, determined to catch an elevator.


End file.
